Karen Magill

Karen was born and raised in the Cleveland Ohio area before moving to Bluffton, SC in 2020. She transitioned from a corporate career in the Food Industry, and raising 6 sons and a daughter with her husband Doug, to the welcoming arms of the local art community.

The love of and explorations in many forms of visual art has been a constant theme throughout her life.  She has enjoyed working in stained glass, pencil, pen and ink, mixed media,  watercolor, as well as acrylic and oil painting.  Living in the Low Country, the beautiful land and waterscapes have provided a wealth of opportunities to paint from life, Plein Air (outdoors).

 Karen prefers Plein Air Painting in order to best see color and capture the effects of light on the landscape.  Plein Air painting is done quickly in oil, on a small panel, because the light changes quickly and will be too different to continue the work after 1.5 hours.  If further work is needed, this requires returning to the same scene, at the same time of day, with the same weather conditions.  Painting Plein Air requires braving the elements (sun, wind, rain, insects, heat and curious on-lookers).  Karen often creates small studies that are the basis of her larger paintings.

 Most painters use brushes, and Karen started with brushes and continues to use them.  However, Karen has also embraced painting with palette knives, loving the looseness and texture that can be created, as well as with a combination of brushes and knives.  You will see all of these techniques in both her acrylic and oil paintings.

 In addition to painting on canvas, Karen has completed a recent doors series using up-cycled surfaces and continues to explore different materials to create unique pieces.   

 Her work resides in private collections throughout the U.S. and can also be seen in the Society of Bluffton Artists Gallery as well as locations in Bluffton and Hilton Head Island.  Karen does commission work as time permits.